Install and configure VMware App Volumes Manager 2.12

VMware App Volumes provides a system to deliver applications to desktops through virtual disks. Applications are bundled in AppStacks and delivered by attaching a standard VMDK file to a virtual machine. Applications delivered by using App Volumes look and feel natively installed and you can update or replace the applications in real-time. You can centrally manage the applications with the App Volumes Manager and there is no need to modify the desktops or individual applications. In this guide I will show you how to install and configure the App Volumes Manager 2.12.   System Requirements Ensure…continue reading →

VMware App Volumes – How to AppStack

What the App Volumes? Over the past months I took a deep-dive into VMware App Volumes and this made me really exited about the future of Application Virtualization. VMware App Volumes, in a nutshell, is a virtualization product that provides just-in-time application delivery to virtualized desktop environments. With this real-time application delivery system, applications are delivered to virtual desktops through AppStacks, without modifying the VM or applications themselves. AppStacks are VMDK virtual disks that contain one or more applications that can be assigned to a users depending on how the applications are managed. In this article I will…continue reading →

VMware App Volumes – Provision an Appstack

In the previous part we've created an AppStack. Now it's time to provision the AppStack to the provisioning machine. Before we do this, I want to explain something about this machine and the best practices I use. An provisioning machine is a virtual machine used to provision AppStacks. Once an AppStack is provisioned you are able to capture the desired applications and complete the provisioning process. If you are familiar with application virtualization like VMware ThinApp or Microsoft App-V a lot of this information and best practices can be re-used in order to successfully provision an…continue reading →

VMware App Volumes – Capture an Application

When you provisioned the AppStack to the provisioning machine, vCenter will attach the VDMK to the machine and the machine will be set into provisioning mode. The VMDK attached to the machine is a writeable volume wich will be set to read-only when the provisioning is completed. Everything installed or changed will be detected by the App Volumes Agent and captured in the AppStack. One of the things I got exited about is the virtualization of drivers (Note: Kernel drivers cannot be virtiualized). When I was packaging with Microsoft App-V, I always had to think of…continue reading →

VMware App Volumes – Edit an AppStack

When editing an AppStack you can change the AppStack name, description and you'll have the option to adjust the operating systems you want to run the AppStack on. Because my provisioning machine runs Windows Server 2012 R2 and my client run on Windows 10 I have to edit the AppStack in order to get it to work. Note: This will not work in all cases. It's best to capture and deliver an application on the same OS. How to: Edit an AppStack:  In the App Volumes Manager, open the AppStack and click Edit.  Select the operating system you…continue reading →

VMware App Volumes – Assign an AppStack

Before we can test the AppStack, we need to assign it first. AppStacks can be assigned to all kind of active directory objects like Users, Groups, Computers and OU's, and you have the possibility to attach the AppStack at next login or reboot or immediately. Because App Volumes provides just-in-time application delivery you can literally publish hundreds of application on the user's desktop in just a few seconds! In the next steps I'm going to assign an AppStack immediately to the desktop and show you the integration with the local system. (Note: If you choose immediately, make…continue reading →

VMware App Volumes – Unassign an AppStack

In the next chapter I would like to show you how to update an AppStack. Although it's not required before updating, I'm going to unassign the attached AppStack from my client machine as a first step. When you unassign an AppStack, all applications with in the AppStack will no longer be available for the user. Just like assigning an AppStack you now have the possibility to detach the AppStack at next login or reboot or immediately.   How to: Unassign an AppStack  In the App Volumes Manager, select the AppStack and click Unassign.  Select the…continue reading →

VMware App Volumes – Update an AppStack

In the final chapter of my story about AppStacks I will explain all the steps needed to update an AppStack. If you have packaging experience you'll know that with every application update, you are the person who has to create a new package and repeat the same tricks to get it to work. This doesn't really change with VMware App Volumes. Because AppStacks are read-only, user can't update their applications with a simple mouse click. So you are still the person who has to update the AppStack. The nice part about the updating of AppStacks is…continue reading →

Troubleshooting a crashing sequencer

Today I would like to highlight a blog post by @Packageologist and how it helped me solve a crashing sequencer problem. In the beginning of december 2015 I was asked to sequence surveillance software for a customer. This software was marked as 'not able to virtualize' because, after the installation, the sequencer crashed when the application was launched for streaming optimisation. The sequencer generated the following error message. When running some tests I discovered that the setup also did an unattended installation of VLC Media Player. Although this was not mentioned during the setup, it would later on be the cause of the problem. Followed…continue reading →

Disable Windows Defender in Windows 10

Windows Defender helps protect your PC against malware (malicious software) like viruses, spyware, and other potentially unwanted software. In Windows 10, Microsoft has disabled the ability to stop/disable the service through the services management console.      When sequencing it's best to disable this service because Windows defender can interfere during the creation of a package, by accessing files that need to be added to the virtual package, or adding extraneous data to the virtual package. To disable Windows defender in Windows 10 I use the powershell command below.  New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender" -Name DisableAntiSpyware -Value…continue reading →